Craig, Moffat County invest more than $32K in cleanup event

A mountain of tires sits at the Moffat County Landfill overlooking Craig Station after the city and county collected 3,700 tires from area residents during Craig Cleanup Days in May.

Totals have been tallied for how much waste was collected at this year’s cleanup event, as well as the final bill footed by Moffat County, which amounted to $26,000, said county Road and Bridge Director Dan Miller.

The City of Craig bore expenses amounting to $6,195 in the name of encouraging residents to clean up and beautify their properties.

Using the lure of free landfill access and free or discounted disposal of special items, the city and county collected 152 tons of trash, 3,700 tires, nearly 400 assorted electronic devices (such as computers and TVs), and about 180 appliances.

“It’s well worth it,” said Moffat County Commissioner Frank Moe. “One, the community pride is important and two, we want new companies moving in, new investment in the community, and the one thing they’re going to look at is how does the community appreciate itself.”

The event had a big turnout, with trash collection stations set up in several locations around town and lines at the Moffat County Landfill.

“We had traffic backed up to the highway a time or two,” Miller said.

Recommended Stories For You

The tires — including passenger car tires, large truck tires and tractor and other equipment tires — amounted to nearly $17,000 per the landfill’s usual disposal fees, and will cost Moffat County around $11,000 to dispose.

“You’d think after doing this 10 or 15 years, we’d run out of tires,” joked Miller at the commissioners’ meeting Tuesday.

Landfill employees also worked overtime the week of the cleanup event to the tune of more than $3,000, and Moffat County Road & Bridge employees lent an extra hand, bringing total labor costs related to the event to nearly $3,700. The remainder of the county’s cost consisted of waived landfill fees.

The city’s costs of more than $6,000 were comprised of wages and the cost of Freon removal for disposed refrigerators.

“The city did a wonderful job coordinating everything,” said Moe, who hopes this year’s success will set a precedent for future events.